Discovering Biodiversity in forest and clear-cut area.
Deforestation may be shifting our plant species composition
Lelah and Annie's Journey Into the Forest
powerline trail, lower Seymour conservation, north Vancouver
Lower Seymour conservation in North Vancouver is our favourite hiking site!!!
There is an open area that seems to be clear cut years ago for the installations of power lines above right in the middle of the huge forest. This open area has very different vegetation compared to the surrounding forest.
You can obviously feel the change of temperature, light intensity, humidity. ad surrounding plants as soon as you cross the boarder of the forest to the open area.
FOREST
OPEN AREA
It feels like 2 entirely different worlds with a distance of only a few metres!!!
SOOOOOOO FASCINATING!!!!
Secondary succession?
Disturbance?
R-Selected V.S. K-Selected?
Temperature / Humidity / Light Intensity?
Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis?
Competitive Exclusion?
Alpha / Beta / Gamma Diversity?
DING DING DING Our BIOL and GOES knowledge start to flashback!!!!
Clear-Cut V.S. Forest?
Research question:
To what extent does clearcutting/ human modification affect plant biodiversity?
More specifically:
How does the clearcut differ from the forest in terms of plant species richness in lower Seymour conservation?
Prediction:
There will be a difference between species richness and invasive species distribution.
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The area that was clearcut will have more R-selected species, including more invasive species, while the forest will have fewer species and will mainly include K-selected species.
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There will be a difference in a variety of abiotic conditions, such as temperature, humidity, and light intensity which might influence the growth of plants at different levels. The forest is predicted to have lower temperature, higher humidity, and less light intensity compared to the open area.